The Tale of the Three Princes
by Morgan Sakana
Summary: Three young princes are banished from their home after an accidental curse takes place. But while away, a dark void swallows the kingdom. They must set aside their differences to save their former home... and their father. *Some cussing. Rated T*
1. The Beginning

_**The Tale of the Three Princes**_

**_The Beginning_**

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_Many years ago, there was a magnificent castle built on top of a mountain in a region of what is now known as the Himalayas. Beautiful silver statues and golden castles made the kingdom a must-be place for wandering travelers. Everyone lived in peace and tranquility. No wars ever feuded between other kingdoms and their rulers. Life was simple and good._

_Many travelers believed that this blissful sanctuary was thanks to nature. The supplies and riches that could be found on this fertile mountain allowed many to live in wealth and power. There was always enough water and food, thanks to the seasons of Rain and Sun, and there was plenty of nutrients to go around, even during the season of Snow._

_Although nature was helpful, the villagers believed that their fortune and serenity was thanks to the grand king. He was a kind and generous ruler who sought out peaceful means of trade rather than bloody conquest. He had many wives and children, but his only three boys were his favorites._

_The eldest boy was a stubborn, but protective child. He found enjoyment in playing with flames and soon became known as the "Prince of Fire." Because of his hot temper and fiery personality, he was named Aiden, which literally meant "fire."_

_The second-eldest boy was a modist young lad. His quiet nature made him hard to reach, but he made friends quickly. Because of his bright personality, and his love for sunlight, he was named Cyrus, which meant "sun."_

_The youngest boy was a curious and mischievous little fellow. He always had to be told what was going on, or he'd find out himself. He enjoyed the water, and since he was so difficult to handle as a child, he was named Kelvin, which meant "narrow water."_

_Alas, the three princes were not perfect. As they matured, they fought with one another constantly and craved the thrill of war. As the years past, the king grew angry with his sons. His anger and frustration slowly led to violence and hatred. But this change was only the beginning of a war; a war that had begun with one accidental curse on the family itself._

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**r/r/e: I hope you like this so far. I know, this part is a little short. I might make it a bit longer. I don't know.**  
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	2. Spell Bound

**_Spell-Bound

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"_Kelvin, what in the Devil's name are you doing?" Aiden asked as he walked into his younger brother's room._

_The 13-year-old looked up from the large book he had buried his face into. "Reading. Is there a __**problem**__ with that?" he questioned mockingly._

"_Yes, as a matter-of-fact there is." With one swift move, Aiden snatched the book out of his brother's hands and turned his back on him._

"_You idiot! Give it back!" Kelvin shouted, grabbing at the silver spine of the book. Aiden grabbed him by his black hair and held him back, flipping through the pages casually. Finally, he snapped the book shut and glared down at his brother._

"_You do realize this is a __**spell**__ book, right?" he inquired, shoving it into his brother's arms._

"_What do __**you**__ care, asshole?" Kelvin growled, walking nonchalantly back to his seat by the window._

"_What did you say?" Aiden yelled, pursuing his brother with clenched fists raised high. "First you steal from the grand library, and now this-"_

"_Leave him be, older brother."_

_Aiden and Kelvin both turned their heads towards the doorway, where Cyrus now stood. In one hand he held an old scroll that had yellowed over the decades. In his other hand he gripped a book similar to Kelvin's, only this one was fairly larger and decorated in gold._

_Cyrus held up the book. "For once, Kelvin didn't steal anything. He and I were given these spell books by our teacher."_

_Aiden's eyes widened. "Impossible! Orfiel would never encourage sorcery! It's against the law!"_

"_Which is probably why he did not present __**you**__ with one," Cyrus replied calmly, tossing the book onto Kelvin's cedar desk._

_Aiden stood there, shuddering with anger. How dare anyone perform witchcraft behind their backs!_

"_What do you think we should do to him?" Kelvin asked with an evil grin._

"_Nothing. We just tell Father, and he'll take care of it."_

"_Aw, come on, Aiden!" Kelvin whined, punching his brother's shoulder. "There's gotta' be __**something**__ we can do to get back at Orfiel!"_

"_Revenge isn't necessarily the correct way to pursue this," Cyrus explained, brushing a strand of his blonde hair out of his eyes. "But if we don't have any proof, Father will not believe us."_

_Aiden looked at his brother curiously. "So, you actually__** agree **__that we should get back at Orfiel?"_

_Cyrus flushed. "No! I just think that a little prank here and there would probably do the job."_

"_The job of revenge?"_

"_I prefer to call it retaliation."_

_Aiden looked from Kelvin to Cyrus, then sighed. "Alright, fine. I'm in."_

_Kelvin grinned and punched the air. "Yesss!"_

_Cyrus smiled slightly and held the old scroll out to Aiden. "I kind of figured this would happen, so I've already chosen several curses from here that aren't necessarily 'witchcraft', but definitely 'immature pranks'."_

_Aiden took the scroll and unrolled it to find several long curses circled in red ink. He shook his head disapprovingly. "If this doesn't work, you're going to be in __**sooo**__ much trouble." Still, he smiled.

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"_What's he doing?" Kelvin whispered from behind the kitchen door._

"_Sssh!" Aiden put his finger to his lips and peeked around the counter at Orfiel. The old man wore a long black robe, as he always did, and no shoes. He was hunched over something on the kitchen stove, completely oblivious to the three spies watching him._

"_Look at the coals," Cyrus said in a low voice. "They are practically glowing from the heat. There's no way he's cooking a meal."_

_Kelvin chuckled. "Unless he likes burnt anchovies."_

"_**SSSH!**__" Aiden shushed louder. "We can't let him hear us."_

_Silently, Cyrus pulled the scroll from behind his back and unrolled the yellow paper. Without a word, he handed the parchment to Aiden, who glanced over the neatly written words._

"_Third down," Cyrus whispered._

_Aiden nodded and read over the curse silently.__** Definitely immature, but worth a try, **__he told himself. Finally, after memorizing the pattern of rhyming words, he whispered:_

"_**Foolish mortal that I see,**_

_**What be it you do in greed?**_

_**As punishment for the evil you teach,**_

_**I force your body to become a leech."**_

_They waited. And waited. And waited._

"_Are you sure you read it correctly?" Cyrus inquired, slightly disappointed._

"_Yes, of course!" Aiden whispered loudly. "I read it word-for-word! This curse is just too foolish!"_

"_Lemme' try," Kelvin offered, reaching out to grab the scroll._

_Aiden pulled it away. "No! You'll just mess it up."_

"_You idiot!" he yelled softly. "That's not fair!" He moved out from behind the door and grabbed the scroll out of his brother's hands. But as he did so, his arm bumped against a glass vase on the counter and pushed it off the tabletop. Glass shards flew every where, cutting the boys' skin._

_Orfiel whirled around, a large knife in his hand. "What the-why you little!" he yelled, lunging at Kelvin._

"_Get out of the way!" Aiden shouted, shoving his brother against the door and out of Orfiel's reach. He quickly grabbed a nearby spatula and pushed the knife away from his throat, his arms shuddering from the effort._

"_You__** brats**__! If you weren't my students, I would have__** killed **__you by now!" Orfiel exclaimed, forcing Aiden to the ground._

_Cyrus grabbed the old man's arms and held him back, straining to keep him under control. "Kelvin! Read the curse!" he called to his brother._

_Kelvin fumbled with the scroll. "Which one?"_

"_The second up!"_

"_There are two of them!"_

"_Just pick one!" Aiden yelled, shielding his face with the bent kitchen utensil as Orfiel tried to strike his neck again._

_Kelvin scanned the words and repeated them, stuttering in fear:_

"_**All you people, hear me out,**_

_**Do not make me scream and shout.**_

_**Darkness will come ever near,**_

_**If any of you refuse to hear.**_

_**Darkness will rear its grizzly head,**_

_**Upon the families that fight with dread.**_

_**In just three days, the sun will parch,**_

_**And all those with light will feel the rath of the Dark!"**_

_Suddenly, the ground below them began to shake violently._

"_Kelvin!" Aiden screamed, holding onto the counter. "You just read a Summon Spell!"_

"_**What**__?" Cyrus yelled, covering his ears as a loud noise broke through the dark room._

_Then, just as quickly as it had come, the earthquake and the noise disappeared, along with their teacher._

_Aiden grabbed Cyrus by the shirt and forced his to look at him. "I thought you said those weren't actual __**spells**__!" he shouted._

_Cyrus tried to pull away. "Let go, Aiden! I said __**most**__ of them weren't spells!"_

"_Uh, guys?"_

"_What the __**hell**__ do you-" Aiden stopped in mid-sentence when he saw the tall, red-haired man standing in the doorway._

_King Nikolai looked around at the torn-up kitchen, seething with rage. "What did you boys __**do**__?" he shouted, his face turning red with anger._

_Kelvin pointed accusingly at Aiden and Cyrus."They __**started**__ it, Dad."

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_**r/r/e: I hope you like it so far. I will definitely be updating this story often... or at least writing it. ;)**_

_**BTW, I don't know why, but I think this story looks cool in italics. :D**_


	3. Banished

_**Banished**

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_Kelvin twiddled his thumbs impatiently. He glanced up at the large gold door leading into the throne room and heaved a sigh._

"_How long are they going to __**be**__ in there?" he asked the wall, as if it would have an answer. Instead, it just stared back with a stony glare, and he sighed again._

_**What could Dad **__**possibly**__** want with Aiden and Cyrus? **__he thought.__**I**__** was the one who cast the--oh, what am I thinking?! It's **__**their**__** fault I read it! It's all their **__**fault**__**!**_

_But Kelvin couldn't keep that thought in his head for very long, and soon he was overcome with guilt again. In an attempt to keep himself busy, he studied the long hallways surrounding him._

_To his right was a long corridor lined with large doors of bronze and iron. He knew the straight path then made a sharp left and would continue on past the laundry room and the maids' room until it reached the ballroom._

_To his left, another hallway continued on, though fairly shorter than the other. Three red, wooden doors lined the walls before they came to an abrupt halt at a wide staircase._

_Kelvin knew well enough that these stairs led downward about nine stories until finally reaching the basement. But, unlike the other castle staircases, as you continued down, the stairs branched off into many other tunnels that traveled throughout the entire castle. Every room in the elaborate structure was connected to the chain of hallways in some way, whether it be through a door or a fireplace. Kelvin had traveled through these tunnels enough to know where each and every room was located, which equaled several hundred tunnels leading to several thousand rooms. _

_**Maybe I could sneak down to the dining hall before Dad's done lecturing Aiden and Cyrus, **__he decided, slowly standing up from his spot on the embroidered red carpet. But before he could take a step forward, he heard footsteps on the other side of the gold door, as well as muffled voices._

_Curious as he was, Kelvin hurried over to the door and pressed his ear against its cold surface._

"_You both will need light clothing, for it will be very humid. You can find your Summer outfits in the laundry room."_

"_Yes, Father."_

"_Hopefully by the time you return, you will have learned somethi--"_

"_Father, I understand. There's no need to explain further..."_

_Someone forced open the door, sending Kelvin reeling backwards and falling onto the carpeted floor._

_Aiden's eyes widened in surprise. "What the heck are--" He quickly cut himself off and looked away as to keep from raising his voice. Once Cyrus closed the door, he mumbled, "How much of that did you hear?"_

"_Not __**enough**__," Kelvin shot back. "Why do you guys need to wear your Summer garments? It's the end of Autumn."_

"_Look... Kelvin, I..." Aiden's voice trailed off and he turned around towards the staircase several yards away. "Cyrus, could you retrieve my red cloak for me?"_

"_Of course, Aiden." Cyrus looked at his brother with concern. "Are you going to be OK?"_

_With long, quick strides, he hurried down the stairs without a word._

"_What's wrong with __**him**__?" Kelvin inquired once his older brother was out of earshot._

_Cyrus sighed. "You'll find out soon enough, I'm sure." He then walked away in the opposite direction of Aiden and rounded the corner without looking back._

_Cyrus was right. Whether Aiden liked it or not, Kelvin was going to find out what was going on behind his back. Silently, he raced over to the staircase._

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"_I don't understand. How did this happen, Cyrus?"_

_Cyrus placed his gold, sleeveless tunic in his travel bag and turned to his elder brother by the bedroom window. "Our constant feuding has finally led to our punishment," he replied, a bit skeptical of his own answer._

_For a long time, Aiden didn't say anything. His gaze followed a black chariot as it crawled across the cobblestone roads like a fly on windowsill. Finally, after watching the vehicle make its merry way towards the castle gates, he spoke, though without taking his eyes off of the chariot. "I've always known that punishment was bound to rear its ugly head eventually. I just never expected something like..." His words got caught in his throat and he struggled to swallow down a sob. "I just don't see why __**Kelvin **__is the only one who can stay. He's done worse things than us."_

_Cyrus shrugged sadly. "He is younger. Father always believed that he knew no better."_

"_Though he does."_

"_My point exactly," Cyrus continued. He smiled softly. "But at least we can be sure that, here, he will succeed in life one way or another."_

"_True," Aiden replied thoughtfully. "Very true."_

_Cyrus's grin grew wider. "And __**we **__won't have to worry about being ordered around by Father anymore."_

_Aiden laughed. "Won't __**that**__ be nice?"_

_Their laughter was brought to an abrupt halt as the castle gates opened, telling tales of old rust on its hinges._

"_...Chariot's here," Aiden commented gravely, looking out the window._

_Cyrus finished packing the last of his garments and glanced over his brother's shoulder at the road below. "Guess so." _

_Aiden reluctantly stood up, slung his black pack over his shoulder_ _and left without another word._

_Cyrus followed his older brother until he reached the doorway. Slowly, he scanned the room, observing every detail as if he could mentally take it with him on his journey. He let out a sigh, then focused his attention on the duct behind his white bed._

"_Take care, Kelvin," he said aloud._

_Kelvin shifted his weight uncomfortably, making the metal vents groan beneath him._

_Cyrus smiled and took one last glance around the room. As soon as he was sure he hadn't forgotten to pack anything important, he turned on his heels and walked quickly down the hall to catch up with Aiden._

_Once he was certain that Cyrus was gone, Kelvin pushed on the duct frame. To his relief, it popped out easily and landed softly onto the floor. He crawled out without a problem and stood up to stretch, when something caught his eye; a small, silver figurine of a dove with a branch inside of its mouth lay on the mahogany dresser._

_Kelvin tenderly picked it up and observed it closely. Its wings were outstretched, as if welcoming, and its sapphire eyes seemed to look straight through him. The small bird was resting on a half-inch thick granite pedestal that curved around in an almost-half circle._

_**This looks extremely expensive, **__Kelvin thought to himself. __**I wonder why Cyrus left it here.**_

_For a moment, Kelvin thought about selling the precious item in the marketplace, but instead shoved it into his pants pocket and gazed out the bedroom window in time to see the doors of the black chariot close with a __**thud! **__and watched it drive away.

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_**r/r/e: Sorry it took me so long to update. I promise the next chapter will be up soon. ^-^ Thank you all for reading this far!**  
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	4. Pulse

**_Pulse

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_The two servants burst through the large doors, breathing heavily._

"_Well?" King Nikolai began, rising from this golden throne. "Did you find him?"_

_They both began talking at once; their words jumbled together like music played by a trumpet as well as a bagpipe._

_The king flushed and raised his hands to quiet them. Both of the servants fell silent. He nodded to the redhead on the left. "Saul, was he in the classroom?"_

"_No, Sire," Saul replied quickly._

"_The dining hall?"_

"_No, Sire."_

"_The furnace room?"_

"_No, Sire."_

_King Nikolai turned to the other servant, a dark-skinned man, and inquired, "Juan Lee, was he in the ballroom?"_

"_No, Sire."_

"_The laundry room?"_

"_No, Sire."_

"_The washroom?" the king asked desperately._

_Juan Lee stiffened. "Sire, all of the facilities are open and unoccupied."_

_King Nikolai heaved a sigh and sat back down. "Did you men have __**any**__ luck what-so-ever in finding the fugitive?"_

_Saul and Juan Lee looked at one another nervously._

_Nikolai sat up straight in his throne. "What is it?"_

"_Well... your __**Highness**__," Saul stated, taking a small step forward. "While I was searching upstairs, I just happened to notice that Kelvin wasn't in his room, as you had ordered of him--"_

"_Yes, yes, go on," the king urged, waving his hand._

"_So, I searched his room. Although he was nowhere to be found, I discovered __**this**__." He pulled out a large, golden book from behind his back and held it up for the king to see._

_King Nikolai stared at the cover, baffled. "...Where did you say you found this again?"_

"_In Kelvin's bedroom, upon his desk, Sire."_

_The king slumped back in his over-sized chair, scanning the room. "Impossible... Kelvin wouldn't..." he murmured. "...Then again..." He continued mumbling, his words incomprehensible to anyone besides himself. He looked over the exquisite paintings and golden decorations along the walls of the throne room, seeking some sort of answer within the cold, blank faces staring back at him. He gazed at the four granite pillars placed in each of the four corners of the room with little interest, until his eyes settled upon the one to his right. _

_A strange power emanated from it; a dull pulse slowly hammered its way into his very core. It was a strange sensation, like that of an old man taking his very last breath. The horror and tranquility merged together into one mesmerizing feeling that stirred inside of him. All the oxygen was forced out of his lungs with a barely-audible--**hsssssssssss**--as it escaped his parched lips, his eyes still glued to the seemingly-simple pillar._

_Saul and Juan Lee glanced at one another, unsure of how to react to their king's strange behavior. Saul nodded in the direction of King Nikolai, urging Juan Lee to be the first to speak. The dark man swallowed hard, then stepped forward. "Err, excuse me, Your Highness, but if you would allow me to retur--" He was quickly cut off by a loud--**SNAP!** Saul stared at his comrade in terror as he crumpled to the floor, his neck turning red from the clean blood pressing itself against it. The man's brown eyes gazed up lifelessly at the pillar, as if pleading for mercy._

_At this, King Nikolai snapped his head back to his servant in surprise. Neither him nor Saul uttered a word as they both turned to look at the granite pillar. _

_The king shivered. "Well, this is most definitely worth looking into. Would--" He cut himself off and stared at Saul, puzzled. He inspected the servant curiously. He appeared to be made of stone, his cold, green eyes also looking back at the strange pulse coming from the granite._

_King Nikolai widened his eyes, surely frightened by the spooky events, but found that he could not tare his gaze away from the pillar. For a second, he thought he saw two eyes staring back at him from behind the structure, one an icy-blue color, the other of gold._

_Before he could even think, his vision went black and he heard a nerve-wracking--**CRUNCH**--as he lost all consciousness.

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_**r/r/e: It took a while, but I'm trying my best to continue this story. This chapter was pretty short. Sorry. Maybe the next one will be better and, hopefully, I'll be patient enough to make it longer. :) Thanks for reading!**_


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